Bollards or signal may be considered to control traffic

that the Palmer-faraday intersection is especially dangerous.

A security camera inside the building, facing the street through the windows, has recorded three other traffic accidents in the same section of Faraday in a little over one year. In one, a car slid off the road, crashed over the curb and landscaping, and stopped on flattened tires sideways in the building’s parking lot. No one was injured.

Another day, a panel truck turned too tightly and slowly rolled onto its side in the curve. And in a separate incident, two cars collided when one failed to stop at the intersection.

The building’s tenants want the city to install a traffic light or caution signs on Faraday, or find some other solution to better control the vehicles there. They’re also considering the installation of bollards or some other type of barrier to protect the building.

Wednesday morning, a police motorcycle officer at the intersection was using a radar gun to check the speeds of passing vehicles.

City traffic engineer John Kim said Tuesday he’s talked to residents about the intersection and that the city will look for a solution, including the possible installation of a traffic signal.

“A traffic signal is not a simple process,” Kim said. “They are quite expensive.”

Carlsbad has a wireless network of about 200 traffic signals, most with cameras and sensors, controlled from a central location.

The city is required to follow the guidelines of the California Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, he said. It takes into consideration traffic volumes, pedestrian activity, collision history, other traffic signals nearby and more.

Should city employees decide a traffic signal is warranted at the intersection, the proposal would have to be reviewed at a public meeting of the Traffic and Mobility Commission, then approved by the City Council, and the city would have to budget the money for the purchase and installation.

Requests for additional traffic controls are not unusual, Kim said.

“Traffic is usually a high concern in the public mind,” he said.

City employees are contacted daily about requests to install new signals or stop signs, or to investigate other situations such as restricted sight lines for drivers, Kim said.

They investigate each situation and work with the police department and other agencies to look for possible solutions, he said.